Dr. Boozman's Check-up

Jul082011

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report today showing that the unemployment rate increased to 9.2% in June.

Shortly before the “stimulus” passed Congress, Christina Romer, then-chairwoman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, the Vice President's top economic adviser, released a report with their predictions about the impact of their plan on the economy. One of their bolder projections at the time was that with the “stimulus,” our national unemployment rate would peak below 8% in 2009.

Almost two and a half years have gone by and our national unemployment rate has never been lower than 8% since the “stimulus” became law.

This chart adds the real numbers to the Romer-Bernstein prediction of the monthly unemployment numbers with and without the President’s “stimulus” plan. As the red dots on the graph show, our national unemployment numbers are far worse than they were pre-“stimulus”.

The media has been talking at length today about what this report means in terms of the President’s political future, but that angle of the story misses the most important part: this about more than numbers, more than a report, more than a political talking point—its real people. 14.1 million of them to be exact. All of whom are looking to Washington for help.

Unfortunately, the President and his allies in Congress have refused to provide the help these Americans need. The government cannot create jobs, despite this administration’s efforts to prove otherwise, but we can help encourage an environment where the private sector can flourish.

How many bad reports are necessary before the President and his allies in Congress recognize their policies are making matters worse, not better, for America?